Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park

Last updated
Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park
Canada British Columbia (no subdivisions) location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Itcha Ilgachuz in British Columbia
Location British Columbia, Canada
Nearest city Quesnel, British Columbia
Coordinates 52°42′30″N124°59′00″W / 52.70833°N 124.98333°W / 52.70833; -124.98333 Coordinates: 52°42′30″N124°59′00″W / 52.70833°N 124.98333°W / 52.70833; -124.98333
Area111,977 hectares
Established1995
Governing body BC Parks
Website Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park

Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Chilcotin Country of British Columbia, Canada. The park is 111,977 hectares in size and contains Far Mountain and Mount Downton, its two most prominent peaks.

Contents

History and conservation

Established in 1995 the park was recommended for protection under the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land-Use Plan, and designated a Class A Park.

Itcha Ilgachuz protects alpine grasslands, wetlands, and wildlife habitat. The Itcha Range and Ilgachuz Range are shield volcanoes that formed 5 and 2.5 million years ago as the North American Plate drifted over the Anahim hotspot. These ranges are situated in the rain shadow of the Coast Mountains, and support a high diversity of plant and animal species including woodland caribou.

Recreation

The park has a network of unmaintained trails for hikers or equestrian users. One trail is open to mountain biking. Wilderness backcountry camping and fishing or hunting (with a license) are permitted. Fish habitat is limited by steep terrain, with Itcha Lake supporting populations of rainbow trout and bull trout. [2]

In winter, a network of snowmobile trails and play areas is available that avoids the preferred winter range of the woodland caribou.

Location

The park is north of BC Highway 20 near the community of Anahim Lake. There are no roads in the park.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anahim Volcanic Belt</span> Chain of volcanoes and related magmatic features in British Columbia, Canada

The Anahim Volcanic Belt (AVB) is a west–east trending chain of volcanoes and related magmatic features in British Columbia, Canada. It extends from Athlone Island on the Central Coast, running eastward through the strongly uplifted and deeply dissected Coast Mountains to near the community of Nazko on the Interior Plateau. The AVB is delineated as three west-to-east segments that differ in age and structure. A wide variety of igneous rocks with differing compositions occur throughout these segments, comprising landforms such as volcanic cones, volcanic plugs, lava domes, shield volcanoes and intrusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowron Lake Provincial Park</span> Wilderness park in British Columbia, Canada

Bowron Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park located in northern British Columbia, Canada, roughly 117 km (73 mi) east of the city of Quesnel. Other nearby towns include Wells and the historic destination of Barkerville. Once a popular hunting and fishing destination, today the park is protected and known for its abundant wildlife, rugged glaciated mountains, and numerous freshwater lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbow Range (Chilcotin Plateau)</span> Mountain range in British Columbia, Canada

The Rainbow Range, formerly gazetted as the Rainbow Mountains, is a mountain range in British Columbia, Canada, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Anahim Lake. Located on the western edge of the Chilcotin Plateau, the range adjoins the Coast Mountains Pacific Ranges to the south, and the Kitimat Ranges to the north. In some classification systems it is considered part of the Coast Mountains. It lies north of the Bella Coola and Atnarko Rivers and south and west of the Dean River, which curves around its north flank, and is relatively drier in climate and easier of terrain than more mountainous areas immediately west.

Pine Le Moray Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. The park, 70 km southwest of Chetwynd covers 43,289 hectares. It is located within the Hart Ranges ecosection near the Rocky Mountains. It is within the Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir biogeoclimatic zone. Water courses include Link and Mountain Creeks, the Pine River, and Heart Lake. It provides habitat for trout, Arctic grayling, mountain whitefish, high elevation caribou, moose, wolverine, and grizzly bear. It is recognized by the province as an area traditionally used by First Nations people. Its topography has examples of Karst topography and alpine areas.

Pink Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and Protected Area</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

The Purcell Wilderness Conservancy is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1974, and encompasses six large drainages in the Purcell Mountains in the southeast of the province. It contains high peaks, alpine meadows and ridges, deep creek and river valleys, and hot springs at Dewar Creek.

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, protecting most of the Spatsizi Plateau, the southeasternmost subplateau of the Stikine Plateau, and the upper reaches of the basin of the Stikine River.

Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, which along with Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park and Entiako Provincial Park were once part of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, then B. C.'s largest park, 9,810 square kilometres (3,790 sq mi) located in the Coast Range.

Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 in the western interior of the province, to protect its important natural features. Tweedsmuir Provincial Park is located on the unceded ancestral territory of the Nuxalk Nation. The park hosts a variety of recreation activities for visitors. This park encompasses a range of diverse species in this park including bears, moose, and various fish. There are also a few at risk species in this park.

Tsitsutl Peak is the highest volcanic peak of the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada, located within Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, 43 km (27 mi) northwest of Anahim Lake and 44 km (27 mi) northeast of Thunder Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itcha Range</span> Mountain range in British Columbia, Canada

The Itcha Range, also known as the Itchas, is a small isolated mountain range in the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 40 km (25 mi) northeast of the community of Anahim Lake. With a maximum elevation of 2,375 m (7,792 ft), it is the lowest of three mountain ranges on the Chilcotin Plateau extending east from the Coast Mountains. Two mountains are named in the Itcha Range; Mount Downton and Itcha Mountain. A large provincial park surrounds the Itcha Range and other features in its vicinity. More than 15 animal species are known to exist in the Itcha Range area, as well as a grassland community that is limited only to this location of British Columbia. The Itcha Range is within territory which has been occupied by aboriginal peoples for millennia. This area has a relatively dry environment compared to the Coast Mountains in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilgachuz Range</span> Extinct volcano in British Columbia, Canada

The Ilgachuz Range is a name given to an extinct shield volcano in British Columbia, Canada. It is not a mountain range in the normal sense, because it was formed as a single volcano that has been eroded for the past 5 million years. It lies on the Chilcotin Plateau, located some 350 kilometres (220 mi) north-northwest of Vancouver and 30 km north of Anahim Lake. The highest peak of the range is Far Mountain. The range supports a unique grassland ecosystem. This type of grassland has not been seen anywhere else in central and southern British Columbia. The climate is cool and dry; typical of higher elevations of the Interior Plateau.

Itcha Mountain is one of the two named volcanic peaks of the Itcha Range, which is located in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, which formed when the North American Plate moved over a hotspot, similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands. The Anahim Volcanic Belt includes other immediately nearby ranges, the Rainbow and Ilgachuz Ranges. Itcha Mountain is located 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Anahim Lake and 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Mount Downton, another peak of the Itcha Range. Both of these peaks are located within Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park, as is Far Mountain, the park's highest peak.

The Anahim hotspot is a hypothesized hotspot in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has been proposed as the candidate source for volcanism in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, a 300 kilometres long chain of volcanoes and other magmatic features that have undergone erosion. This chain extends from the community of Bella Bella in the west to near the small city of Quesnel in the east. While most volcanoes are created by geological activity at tectonic plate boundaries, the Anahim hotspot is located hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest plate boundary.

Far Mountain is the highest of over 13 peaks in the Ilgachuz Range in the Anahim Volcanic Belt in British Columbia, Canada. The Ilgachuz Range is one of the three major shield volcanoes that formed the Anahim Volcanic Belt when the North American Plate moved over a hotspot. This is similar to the one which feeds the Hawaiian Islands. The mountain is located in the western part of Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anahim Peak</span> Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

Anahim Peak, also spelled Anaham, ʔAnaghim, or Anaheim, is a volcanic cone in the Anahim Volcanic Belt in British Columbia, Canada, located 39 km (24 mi) northwest of Anahim Lake and 11 km (7 mi) east of Tsitsutl Peak. It was formed when the North American Plate moved over a hotspot, similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands, called the Anahim hotspot. It is one of the several volcanoes in the Anahim Volcanic Belt that stands out all by itself, rising from the Chilcotin Plateau, between the Rainbow Range and the Ilgachuz Range and near the headwaters of the Dean River.

Mount Downton is the highest summit of the 10 km (6 mi) diameter Itcha Range, located 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Anahim Lake and 33 km (21 mi) east of Far Mountain in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It lies within Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located on Highway 40 northwest of Lillooet, British Columbia. The park, which is 56,796 ha. in size, was established on April 18th, 2001, and It was created out of a portion of the Spruce Lake Protected Area. The park is located on three Indigenous Nations: The Tsilhqot’in, St’at’imc, and Secwepemc.

Omineca Provincial Park and Protected Area is a provincial park and protected area located in the north-central interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was established on 11 April 2001 by BC Parks to protect provincially significant riparian and wetland habitats along the Omineca River.

Itcha Lake is a lake in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located northwest of Chilcotin Lake near the northeastern end of the Itcha Range in Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park.

References

  1. "Protected Planet | Itcha Ilgachuz Park". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  2. "Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park". BC Parks . Retrieved 2020-10-28.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park at Wikimedia Commons